Director Steven Soderbergh is one of the producers of the pandemic Oscars. Your choice is not free. Your movie Contagion, Released a decade ago, it became a premonitory phenomenon in February of last year, just when the coronavirus epidemic was beginning to get out of control. The drama about a deadly virus originating in Hong Kong that spreads around the world was among the most searched at the beginning of 2020. Contagion did not compete for any Oscar in 2012, but will be strangely present at this Sunday’s in-person ceremony, where Nomadlanddirected by Chloé Zhao and starring Frances McDormand, is the favorite. Soderbergh and Stacey Sher, producer of Contagion, together with Jesse Collins will put on the biggest show in Hollywood in a year in which, more than ever, the show It must continue despite the fact that the industry was hit to death by the closure of the theaters.
The producers have said that the filming of Contagion He put them in contact with various epidemiologists. The experts were recently consulted to design the health protocols that will mark Sunday’s in-person ceremony. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States has partially left the Dolby Theater, home of the awards since 2002, to move to Union Station, the train station in the center of the city. That will be the heart of the ceremony, which will start at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time (2:00 a.m. on Monday in Spain). Before that, the musical numbers of the five artists nominated for best original song will be broadcast, in a show similar to that of Joe Biden’s inauguration as president of the United States.
The pandemic has forced organizers to scale down the big Hollywood party. Invitations for the nominees and their companions have been reduced to a minimum. Some productions have only four tickets to the ceremony. Quite a change compared to the 3,400 seats at the Dolby theater. The filmmakers who come from abroad arrived in Los Angeles almost 10 days ago and the Academy has required them to take three antigen tests until the night of the awards. Those who have not been able to travel to California will be at the headquarters in London (at the British Film Institute) and in Paris (in a studio). And if not, via satellite. Zoom video calls have been prohibited by the organizers.
Testing and vaccination are the cornerstones of a strategy that has allowed the event to be held in person. The pandemic forced the awards to be postponed for two months. The Academy thus once again adjusts the gala plans as it did after the floods of 1938, the assassination of Martin Luther King, in 1968; the attack on Ronald Reagan, in 1981, and the outbreak of the Iraq war, in 2003, when the red carpet was reduced and the public stands were eliminated. Today the moment of the epidemic is different. 40% of Americans have received at least one vaccine and 34% of California’s population is already immunized.
On a reduced scale
The Oscars return to their origins in their 93rd edition. With the reduction in scale, the organizers will seek to give the event an intimate tone like that of the first 15 awards. “To achieve this, I studied the subtle elegance of the first ceremonies, which were formal dinners and dances held in iconic rooms in Los Angeles in hotels such as the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Ambassador and the Biltmore,” architect David Rockwell, designer, explains to EL PAÍS. of production.
The gigantic ticket hall at the train station, built in 1939, will be filled with coffee tables, chairs and blue velvet sofas placed on a slope. “The focal point will be a simple platform. In contrast to other ceremonies, where glittering stages capture the attention, we want to bring the entire space to the ceremony,” says the director of Rockwell Group. Soderbergh has said that the gala will be broadcast like a movie. In wide screen format, at 24 images per second and with a shoulder camera at some moments.
There will be no presenter. Instead, the Academy has announced 18 filmmakers who will be in charge of award announcements. Last year’s winners have confirmed their presence: Bong Joon-ho, director of Parasites; Renée Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern and Brad Pitt. They will be joined by Bryan Cranston, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon, Harrison Ford, Rita Moreno and Zendaya, among others. Two nominees this year, Viola Davis, in the best actress category for The mother of the blues, and Riz Ahmed, best actor for sound of metal, They will also present awards.
It is unclear what role masks will play throughout the ceremony. Producers have talked about creating bubbles, a model that the film industry relied on to resume filming during the pandemic. Zone A will be occupied by the nominees and their companions. The technical team and production will use masks. When groups move to other patios and spaces, protection will then be mandatory.
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